Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Swarm of Bees Re-route Rush Hour on Westchester Square

BRONX, NEW YORK, May 22- A swarm of 10,000 bees took over a busy bus stop in Westchester Square, forcing police to redirect traffic and causing delays for hundreds of bus riders during rush hour.

The swarm of bumblebees mysteriously arrived and landed on the street, against the sidewalk at E. Tremont Avenue and Westchester Avenue, at just after 6 p.m., on Friday, May 18. A passersby took photos and gawked at the sight.

The incident once again prompted the NYPD to call its bee specialist Anthony Planakis, who used a vacuum to scoop up the two pounds worth of bees.

Planakis has been quite busy lately, having last come into the Bronx on April 30, when he removed 7,000 hunter bees from a tree in Melrose.

On Friday, May 11, Planakis returned to Melrose when two swarms made a temporary home in two trees along E. 154 Street.

On Wednesday, May 23, Planakis removed 9,000 bees from a tree on the Bowery in lower Manhattan.

In the most recent incident, a mother and child were briefly trapped in their car on Sunday, May 20, when a swarm landed on their car parked on Pier 92 on Manhattan's west side.

Planakis has given an early spring as the reason for the NYPD to so far have to call the bee expert more than a dozen times in the past two months.